Dear Editor,
I write to join in the condemnation of the recent Guyana Police Force (GPF) “wanted bulletin” for Rickford Burke, President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), on an extortion charge. I reject this charge as a blatant act of political repression and victimization of Mr. Burke for his criticism of the government and his work in US political circles in exposing the PPP government’s anti- democratic and racial policies.
Having said the above, I ponder on the intimidation charge by the police/government on Mr. Burke. I am convinced that this intimidation is intended to achieve two political objectives. The first objective is to silence Burke’s criticism of the government and end his activism in the US and his influence at home. In the context of the current negotiations between the US authorities and the Guyana government on extradition issues this first objective fades in importance.
Burke has become a hostage/victim in the PPP/government’s strategy in dealing with the US in the present negotiations. The PPP knows that the American government will not comply with their request for the extradition of Mr. Burke on that politically trumped-up charge.
The Guyana government will thus insist that the US adhere to a reciprocal/mutual extradition policy and use the Burke case to throw a spanner in the wheel which is its second and more important political objective. The Guyana government/PPP are aware that the US interest in extradition matters is targeting Guyanese nationals wanted by the US authorities for economic and other crimes including narcotics, gold smuggling, money laundering and human trafficking, to name a few. Some of the people involved in these crimes have connections with the PPP or persons in that party’s political, economic and social infrastructure and orbit. The rulers are not prepared to let the US have its way and are employing tactics to protect their allies.
For instance, the Guyana government is engaged in a ploy to frustrate the implementation of the comprehensive arrangement with the US envisaged by the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. They are thus using Rickford Burke as a convenient “scapegoat”. It will soon become clear that the ruler’s misconceived strategy is a failure and the objective of protecting their cronies who dominate economic and financial running in the criminal state will not materialize since the US government has serious concerns on the direction the country is heading and the machinations of the rulers. These concerns extend to the ways in which the government is openly and wantonly using the Guyana Police Force, especially the government’s hand-picked acolytes in the Force, to insert themselves in the PPP’s political strategy. This is also a very disturbing development for Guyana’s already deeply flawed political and social fabric.
Yours sincerely,
Tacuma Ogunseye
